The Sinking City 2 Performance Review: PS5 vs Xbox Series X 60 FPS Mode Analysis

There is something especially important about performance in a survival horror game. In an action game, losing a few frames can be annoying. In a game like The Sinking City 2, where every bullet matters, monsters can appear from the darkness without warning, and a bad dodge can mean death, inconsistent performance can genuinely affect how the game feels.

That is why I was particularly interested in seeing how Frogwares’ new survival horror sequel handles the PS5 and Xbox Series X. The original The Sinking City had plenty of atmosphere, but its technical performance could sometimes get in the way of the experience. With The Sinking City 2 moving to Unreal Engine 5 and embracing a much more traditional survival horror structure, expectations are considerably higher.

After looking closely at the available performance information, gameplay footage, technical impressions, and community feedback, my overall feeling is surprisingly positive: the 60 FPS mode is absolutely the way I would want to play this game.

There are still some Unreal Engine 5 quirks, and neither console is completely immune to occasional drops or traversal stutter. However, Frogwares appears to have done a good job balancing visual quality and responsiveness.

Unreal Engine 5 Makes Arkham Look Seriously Creepy

The biggest technical difference between the original and the sequel is immediately obvious.

The Sinking City 2 is built around Unreal Engine 5, and the technology is being used to create an Arkham that feels substantially more detailed, wet, decayed, and oppressive than before.

The city itself almost becomes another character.

You have flooded streets, abandoned buildings, ruined Art Deco interiors, dark corridors, supernatural slime, and water reflecting strange lights across the environment. It is exactly the kind of setting where modern lighting technology can make a huge difference.

What impressed me most is the water.

The flooded areas of Arkham aren’t simply decorative puddles placed around the map. Water is constantly part of the visual identity of the environment. Reflections, surface movement, debris, and the general murkiness of the flooded city help sell the idea that something has gone terribly wrong.

And, naturally, this comes with a price.

Unreal Engine 5 can be extremely demanding, particularly when developers combine detailed environments, lighting effects, particles, reflections, and large amounts of geometry. That is why the 60 FPS Performance Mode is so interesting.

Instead of rendering everything at a native 4K resolution, the consoles use dynamic resolution and temporal reconstruction techniques. The internal resolution can move considerably depending on what is happening on screen, generally sitting somewhere around the 1080p–1440p range before being reconstructed toward a higher-resolution output.

From a couch-distance perspective, the result is generally convincing.

There are moments where you can notice reconstruction artifacts, especially during quick camera movements or around fast-moving enemies. But personally, I would take a slightly softer image over a game that feels sluggish because it is trying to maintain a prettier 30 FPS presentation.

PS5 Performance: The 60 FPS Mode Is the One to Play

The PS5 version of The Sinking City 2 makes a strong first impression in Performance Mode.

Exploration feels responsive, aiming is considerably more comfortable, and combat benefits enormously from the higher frame rate. That last point is important because Frogwares has moved the sequel much closer to traditional survival horror.

You are no longer simply investigating strange events. You have to deal with monsters directly.

That means aiming, turning, dodging, and reacting quickly all matter.

During normal exploration, the PS5 generally manages to stay very close to the 60 FPS target. Indoor areas are particularly comfortable, and walking through darker hospital corridors or smaller residential locations feels smooth and responsive.

Things become more complicated when the game throws everything at the hardware simultaneously.

Heavy combat encounters involving several enemies, rain, explosions, environmental effects, and other particle-heavy moments can push the console hard. In these situations, performance can briefly fall into the mid-50 FPS range.

I don’t consider that a major problem.

If you are using a VRR-compatible display, those fluctuations become considerably harder to notice. More importantly, the game still feels dramatically more responsive than a traditional 30 FPS mode.

DualSense Is a Genuine Advantage

There is also another reason I would lean toward the PS5 version if the two consoles were sitting next to each other in my living room.

The DualSense controller adds a layer of immersion that fits this particular game extremely well.

Frogwares makes use of adaptive trigger resistance for weapons, giving firearms a more physical feeling when you pull the trigger. Haptic feedback also contributes to environmental immersion, with subtle vibrations helping communicate rain, movement, impacts, and the presence of supernatural forces.

This might sound like a small feature on paper, but horror games benefit enormously from tactile feedback.

When the screen is dark and you cannot immediately see what is around you, feeling something through the controller can make the atmosphere considerably more uncomfortable.

And honestly, that is exactly what I want from The Sinking City 2.

Xbox Series X: Slightly More Consistent Performance

The Xbox Series X is no slouch here.

If raw performance consistency is your primary concern, there is a convincing argument for choosing the Series X version. The console appears to maintain its 60 FPS target slightly more confidently during the game’s most demanding sequences.

The difference isn’t enormous. We are not talking about one version being dramatically better than the other.

Instead, the Series X has a small advantage in situations where the game is under serious pressure.

During chaotic combat with numerous effects on screen, the Xbox can hold closer to its target, while dynamic resolution also appears somewhat less aggressive in certain demanding outdoor environments.

That can translate into a slightly cleaner image when exploring Arkham’s wider flooded areas.

Again, though, this is the kind of difference you are more likely to appreciate when directly comparing the two versions rather than casually playing one of them.

For most players, both PS5 and Xbox Series X deliver a very similar overall experience.

Texture quality, shadows, environmental detail, and the general visual presentation remain impressively close between the two platforms.

VRR Helps the Series X Too

The Series X also benefits from strong VRR support.

When the frame rate isn’t perfectly locked at 60 FPS, a compatible VRR display can smooth out those small fluctuations and prevent obvious tearing. This is particularly useful during the game’s more chaotic encounters.

If you already own a good VRR television or gaming monitor, I would absolutely recommend enabling it before starting the game.

PS5 vs Xbox Series X: How Big Is the Difference?

For most players, the difference is much smaller than console-war discussions might suggest.

The Xbox Series X wins by a very small margin if pure performance stability is all you care about.

The PS5 wins if controller immersion matters to you.

And that is basically the conclusion I reached after comparing the two.

What About Xbox Series S?

The situation changes considerably if you are playing on the Xbox Series S.

The smaller Xbox hardware obviously has less headroom than the Series X, and Frogwares has had to make much bigger compromises.

The target experience is centered around 30 FPS with an upscaled 1080p presentation, rather than the 60 FPS experience available on the more powerful consoles.

That is not necessarily a failure. The Series S is designed as a more affordable current-generation system, and compromises are expected.

But for The Sinking City 2, I think the difference will be particularly noticeable.

The game has much more demanding combat than its predecessor, and responsiveness is important. If you have the choice between playing at a stable 30 FPS on Series S and 60 FPS on PS5 or Series X, I would choose the latter without hesitation.

The One Technical Issue I Still Don’t Love

There is one thing that I hope Frogwares continues to improve through patches: traversal stutter.

Unreal Engine 5 games have developed something of a reputation for small hitches when moving between different areas or loading new environmental assets. The Sinking City 2 isn’t completely free from this problem.

The most noticeable situations can occur when moving through Arkham’s open areas and transitioning into indoor locations.

It is not the same thing as a sustained frame-rate collapse.

Instead, it is that brief moment where the game seems to pause or hitch before continuing normally.

For a horror game, these interruptions can be particularly noticeable because the atmosphere encourages slow, deliberate exploration. When everything is quiet and you are listening for the next monster, even a tiny technical hitch stands out.

Fortunately, it doesn’t appear severe enough to ruin the experience.

Still, this is one area where I would love to see Frogwares continue optimizing the game after launch.

Why 60 FPS Matters So Much in a Horror Game

Some players argue that horror games should prioritize visuals over frame rate.

I understand that argument.

A locked 30 FPS game can look fantastic, and cinematic presentation has always been an important part of horror. But The Sinking City 2 feels different from a purely cinematic horror experience.

Combat is a much bigger part of the game.

You have limited ammunition, dangerous enemies, and situations where you need to react quickly. The ability to turn the camera smoothly and place a shot exactly where you want it makes a meaningful difference.

For that reason, I strongly recommend Performance Mode.

The Quality Mode might produce a cleaner image in certain situations, but I would rather have the responsiveness of 60 FPS when something horrible is sprinting toward me from a dark corridor.

There is also a psychological advantage.

At 60 FPS, camera movement feels immediate. That makes the game feel more reactive, but it also makes the monsters feel more dangerous because they move more naturally across the screen.

In my opinion, that’s worth more than squeezing out additional pixels.

The Sinking City 2 Price & Editions Guide: Standard vs Deluxe vs Premium (2026)

The Community Seems to Agree

Early community reactions have also been encouraging.

One of the most interesting comparisons people are making is with the technical state of the original The Sinking City. The 2019 game had its share of performance complaints, including inconsistent frame rates and distracting technical issues.

The sequel feels like a completely different generation.

Players have generally been impressed by the atmosphere, creature design, sound work, and the overall visual quality of Arkham. The optional investigation elements also seem to strike a better balance, allowing curious players to dig deeper without turning every story beat into a lengthy detective sequence.

That is an important change for me personally.

The first game had an interesting identity, but its investigative structure wasn’t necessarily for everyone. The Sinking City 2 appears much more confident about being a survival horror game first.

And technically, the 60 FPS mode supports that new identity extremely well.

My Verdict: PS5 or Xbox Series X?

If you are deciding between the two versions, I don’t think you can make a bad choice.

The Xbox Series X gets my tiny technical-performance advantage. Its 60 FPS mode appears slightly more stable during demanding scenes, and the dynamic resolution system seems to preserve image quality a little better when the hardware is pushed.

But if I personally had both consoles available, I would probably choose the PS5 version.

Why?

The performance difference is small, while the DualSense features add something genuinely useful to a horror game. Adaptive triggers and detailed haptic feedback aren’t just marketing extras here; they reinforce the feeling of handling weapons and being surrounded by an environment that doesn’t feel safe.

Ultimately, though, the bigger recommendation is simple:

Play The Sinking City 2 at 60 FPS if your hardware allows it.

The game looks gorgeous in Unreal Engine 5, but its strongest technical achievement isn’t the resolution or reflections. It is the fact that Frogwares has managed to make this enormous, grotesque version of Arkham feel responsive enough for proper survival horror combat.

The PS5 and Xbox Series X are both excellent ways to experience it. The Xbox has the slightest edge in raw stability, while the PS5 offers the more immersive controller experience. Neither difference is large enough to justify switching ecosystems.

For me, the real winner is the 60 FPS Performance Mode itself.

After the technical struggles associated with the original game, seeing The Sinking City 2 deliver a substantially smoother experience is one of the most reassuring things about this sequel. If Frogwares continues polishing the remaining traversal stutters and minor frame-time issues, this could end up being one of the more technically convincing Lovecraftian survival horror experiences of 2026.

The Sinking City 2 – Official Gameplay Reveal Trailer